D.C. Restaurants Try to Keep Calm and Carry On as More Military Troops Roll In
Chef Lincoln Fuge, who runs Present Company Public House in Chinatown, calls the federal response 'overkill.' He continues, 'We don't need National Guard troops from any state to be posted here. We are not perfect, but we are not a lawless dystopia that needs a military presence.'
During his Oval Office meeting with the Ukrainian president on Monday, Trump claimed the federal takeover had already made the city feel safer. The administration cites 450 arrests made so far. 'People who haven't gone out to dinner in Washington D.C. in two years are going out to dinner,' said Trump, claiming that restaurants are 'busier than they've been in a long time.'
The numbers say otherwise. D.C. restaurant reservations have seen the sharpest fall among 20 large cities in America so far in August, per OpenTable numbers crunched by WUSA9. The study reported that the number of year-over-year diners dipped by 31 percent on Wednesday — two days after Trump ordered the National Guard to patrol Washington — and was also down every day after that. On Monday, August 18, online reservations dipped by 22 percent.
The timing could not be worse for D.C.'s biannual Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week, which started on August 18 and runs through August 24, with a record 380 participants offering three-course deals to boost slower summer sales. Many opt to extend their deals into the following week.
Federal agents walking along a row of Maine Avenue restaurants at the Wharf on Monday, August 18. Leo Lee
The industry nonprofit group Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) tells Eater it's 'aware' of the OpenTable statistics that show a drop in reservations following the federal takeover announcement. 'Our members are concerned about the perception this creates, but we are cautiously optimistic that reservations will increase during Restaurant Week,' says RAMW, in a provided statement.
The president's takeover is designed to reportedly address what he calls out-of-control crime in D.C., despite data from the Metropolitan Police Department showing violent crime at a historic 30-year low in the city. Over the weekend, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), U.S. Park Police, and members of the National Guard were seen out in full force. Monday night around 10 p.m. at the Wharf, Eater spotted six DEA-marked agents loitering outside of a deserted Hank's Oyster Bar (which is closed on Mondays).
Protestors rally at Dupont Circle before marching to the White House on Saturday, August 16. Getty Images
'You know it doesn't make sense,' D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters during a Monday press conference. 'The numbers on the ground in the District don't support a thousand people from other states coming to Washington, D.C.'
Meaghaan Tolman, the director of operations at Detroit-style pizza bar Red Light, sums up the downtown mood as 'super somber,' especially on her restaurant's 14th Street corridor. The go-to industry hot spot typically slings square slices and shots until 1 a.m. on weekdays. But on Wednesday night, when federal agents set up lit-up checkpoints on the nightlife strip, Red Light's business completely died down after 8 p.m. — leaving her no choice but to cancel its weekly karaoke party. 'We had nothing [Wednesday] night,' she says. 'No one was there. It was a ghost town.'
Khalid Pitts, who co-owns Cork Wine Bar down the street, agrees the extra policing is a turn-off. 'They're making their presence felt and not in a way that makes people feel safe,' says Pitts.
Bars at the nexus of 14th and U streets — a prime nightlife corridor currently being patrolled by federal officers — are especially feeling the burn. Crush Dance Bar, the LGBTQ+-friendly hangout with a popular back patio, saw a 50-percent drop in Friday sales. 'Washingtonians leaving the city to avoid the chaos on top of a reduction of tourism is crippling small businesses,' co-owner Mark Rutstein told The Advocate.
Revolt, a new U Street gay bar with an ironic name for the times, acknowledges its opening weekend (August 22-23) comes during a difficult moment for the industry. 'The heavy police presence has made many in our community feel unsafe,' reads a statement from ownership. 'Amidst the chaos in D.C., our community's safe spaces are hurting. LGBTQ+ venues across the city need our support now more than ever.'
Some diners were spotted out and about last night. Weekly event ShowTune Mondays at JR's appeared packed in Dupont, and the Union Market district felt active.
The Banksy-styled ode to D.C.'s 'Sandwich Guy' in the Union Market district. Emily Venezky/Eater DC
Some restaurants are taking extra steps to protect employees and customers, according to one experience a customer relayed to Eater. At 9:45 p.m. on Sunday night, when Minetta Tavern got word that federal agents were in Union Market, a manager locked the doors and closed the blinds, letting after-dinner guests stay inside to wait for their Ubers.
One block away at the corner of 4th and Neal streets, a new mural pays homage to D.C.'s latest celebrity: Sean Charles Dunn, a now-former DOJ employee who went viral after he famously threw a Subway sandwich at a federal officer last week. Banksy-styled graffiti art of a man hurling a sub is now tagged all over the city, and 'Sandwich Guy' sparked a line of T-shirts and Free DC campaign slogans.
It remains unclear how the deployment of 1,000 more troops will impact the already tense tone of the town.
'Federal action should build on our progress, not discourage people from going to work or going out to eat,' RAMW tells Eater. 'When seats are empty, the impact is felt by everyone, from servers to cooks, and operators to suppliers.'
One of the Restaurant Week participants is British pub Duke's Grocery, which offers $25 lunch and $40 dinner deals to include its famed Proper burger and toffee pudding. 'D.C. thrives when we show up. Now is the time to be present — in our neighborhoods, our local shops, our bars and restaurants, our gyms, dry cleaners, and coffee shops,' owner Daniel Kramer tells Eater. 'We've weathered COVID and government shutdowns, and we'll get through whatever comes next.'
—Emily Venezky contributed to this report
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